Unwritten Stories
by DeathySophia
Summary: The other side of the battle of 2005. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Zatch Bell or Konjiki no Gash Bell. Makoto Raiku does.

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><p><strong>Unwritten Stories<strong>

Chapter 1

It was mid-August in Australia and the sun was barely visible through the thick clouds. Here, in some area in a snowy mountain, the warmth was that of a burning candle; it was so cold and freezing despite the summer day. The ground was white of snow, not even a fleck of earth was visible due to the thickness of the snow piled on it. At a glance, that place was greatly resembled of a freezing ocean, very quiet with no sign of life. It was so calm and peace and without disturbance and… not anymore.

The field of snow was disturbed. A great chunk of it was kicked out of the calmness and voices were booming, breaking the silence. Two people were bursting out of the forest surrounding the snow field, letting out a yelp and a scream as they fell and skidded on the snow. When they finally came to a halt, one person quickly got up; he was a boy around twelve years old with wild silver hair wearing black attire and black boots, his sharp gray eyes were glaring daggers at the source where they were came from. Looking around, he found the other person lying several feet from him who, unlike him, was trembling so badly from both the coldness and fear. She was a girl of around eighteen years old and she really looked like a mess. Her waist-length black hair was disheveled and almost covered her entire face, but still, you could see her brown colored eyes widen in terror through the curtain of black. She was wearing a sailor uniform; white shirt with a scorched hole on the right shoulder, a blue knee-length skirt with a short under it, and black shoes. It was odd to wear thin clothes in such freezing weather but apparently she had no chance to change into some warm fur jacket as she didn't have the faintest idea that she would face the change of weather from a burning sunlight to below zero temperature. She was lying on her stomach, clutching dearly on a thick-covered indigo book with strange writing and hourglass-like symbol on it, as though her life was depending on it or maybe it was just her attempt to warm herself a bit.

The silver-haired boy rushed to her side and pulled her, with a surprising power, to her feet. She staggered a bit before the boy catch her on the arms and began rocking her. "Pull yourself together! I need you to read the book!" he yelled.

She stared at him still with the look of terror on her face, countlessly wondering about how in the world could she be dragged in such troublesome situation. If not because of the cold and the searing pain on her shoulder, she would have thought that she was dreaming. A moment ago, or so she guessed, she was walking home from school under the fierce heat of summer sun, got hit by a laser beam till pass out and awoke in a strange place with snow everywhere. She had gone through very weird events ever since she met with the boy. The shock of knowing that she was moved from Tokyo to Australia in a very short time hadn't gone before another weird event started. The boy, whom he introduced himself as Hori, told her something about mamonos and the battle for king and something about books. She didn't really pay him any attention as at that moment she was possessed by shock. She was about to ask him to repeat his explanation when another weird event happened; they were attacked by an iceman that shot ice from its mouth.

The boy, Hori, was furious to see the trembling human before him. He didn't understand the rule of why the fight to determine king had to pair up with such a weak creature. He would have won this fight alone if he had had his power, but no, his power was sealed inside the indigo book clutched by the girl and would not come out unless she read it. Panic began to rise in him like rocket as he was thinking. If he couldn't make the girl to read the book, he would be done for, but was this girl really able to read his book? Now that he thought about it, the girl had not opened his book even once before. He took her with him only because the book was glowing when she jumped in front of a laser that was aimed for him. What if she actually couldn't read his book? The thought made his stomach lurching.

"Listen, if you want to stay alive, open the damn book and see if you can read it!"

However, the girl was thinking differently. She didn't think reading a book could make the situation better or more, to keep her alive. She needed to seek for help, maybe call the police, but then remembered that she didn't have her cell phone with her. Her thought was interrupted by a shouting voice and the next moment, she was on the ground again; Hori had pushed her out of the way of the freshly icicles that now sticking out where they had been a second before.

"Heh, you won't escape us!" she heard her pursuer saying. There, standing right at the edge of the forest was a creature that seemed to be made of blocks of ice. It had blue armor on its body, covering all but its square head. Its eyes were black and round and it had holes on either sides of its head instead of ears. Shortly after, a man in his mid-twenties emerged from behind it, holding a pale brown book just like the one the girl was holding. He had on a thick green jacket with hoodie on, black pants, and black boots. The man panted slightly and had an annoyed expression on his face.

"It's annoying to have you keep running away from us. Why didn't you just encounter our attacks with yours? We were expecting this battle to be a little fun."

Hori just gritted his teeth when he continued, "And now I'm bored. Just hand us your book peacefully and we'll let you live."

"Like hell I would do it!" Hori yelled, and before the girl could stop him, he was already launched himself towards the iceman, his fists balled.

"**Gikoru!**" the man yelled.

Several sharp icicles were shot out of the iceman's mouth towards Hori. Being shot at close range, he was lucky that he had managed to move sideways a little, leaving only a deep cut on his right arm, however, he heard a surprised shriek from behind him. The icicles were stuck themselves around the girl, who was miraculously avoided the ice from ramming into her. Hori knew she was alright from the absence of the howl of agony and, with a yell, planted his punch as hard as he could to the iceman's face. The ice shattered and a crater was formed in its face but it didn't scream nor show any sign of pain, instead it grabbed Hori's wrist with its white hands and threw him away. Hori spun in the air and landed on his feet safely.

"A good thing of having this body is that I can't feel any pain no matter how serious you injure me, and I can mend my injuries easily." the iceman said as it grabbed a handful of snow from the ground and placed it on the crater Hori had made with his fist. The snow seemed to merge with its face and hardened, giving it a new crackless cheek.

"Well then I'll just beat you up so bad you can't even mend yourself!"

Hori charged again, and the girl, who had finally gotten up, watched him punching and kicking the iceman from behind a sticking icicle, wide-eyed. The iceman of course tried blocking Hori's rampage, but it was too slow to react thus giving Hori several chances to tackle it to the ground and delivered his heavy blows. Apparently it realized that it was in enough trouble and shouted for help to the man holding its book. The girl then looked at him and still surprised to see his book glowing. She had seen it before and knew that every time it glowed and the man shouted something, the iceman would shoot ice from its mouth. She then looked at the indigo book in her hands, which was Hori's. He kept ordering her to read it or else she would die, so she wondered; would Hori also shoot ice from his mouth if she read it?

The iceman finally stopped struggling when its book keeper shouted a spell. It, once again, shot icicles from its mouth and one of it had successfully pierced Hori's right shoulder. He was sent flying and fell to the ground, followed by a shriek from the girl calling his name. She went out from behind the icicle and ran to his side.

"Are you okay?" she said with a worried tone in her voice.

Hori didn't answer. He removed the ice from his shoulder, and despite that it was bleeding so badly and throbbing painfully, he smirked as he watched the result of his work. The iceman was barely recognizable for a lot of its body was missing. Its head only half remained and it lost its arms and legs and a great chunk of its body, all that was left was full of craters and cracks. "There, I wanna see how you can mend yourself in that state!"

It didn't feel any pain just like it had said before, yet it was scowling. "I'm impressed that you can injure me to a state like this, but it's really embarrassing you know!" And they watched, horror-struck as the iceman's body began to regenerate and not long after, it was the same as before, like nothing happened.

"No way, how come—"

"I guess you forgot that I'm made of ice. As long as there is ice and cold around me, I can regenerate my body just fine even if I'm melting."

"Yuki, we've wasted so much time here. Let's just end this battle quickly, I'm starting to freeze." The man holding the book said, shivering slightly.

"Yes, Sora. After all they're no fun at all." the iceman, Yuki said.

And then it was its turn to attack. It raised its fist and charged forward, and Hori, who had just managed to get up, was barely able to block its punch with his crossed arms before tossed back several feet. The girl, who was still on the ground, let out a shriek and backed away, apparently she had temporarily forgotten about the cold in exchange of fear. Yuki then turned to her, its eyes fixed upon the indigo book in her hands.

"RUN!" Hori yelled, and before the iceman could lay a hand on the book, Hori had launched himself to it, causing them to fall and rolled to the side. The girl did not need to be told twice and took the opportunity. She quickly got up and started running across the snow field.

"Oh no, you're not running again!" said the angry voice of Yuki once it stopped rolling.

"**Furizudo!**"

As the spell had been chanted, thick mist erupted from Yuki's mouth and hurled towards the girl. She exclaimed in surprise as she hit the ground, face first. The spell from the iceman had finally taken effect; her left foot had been frozen to the also frozen ground. She rolled to the side, clutching her bleeding nose and wincing from the pain. She then tried to free her leg from the ice, but it would not budge. She was stuck.

"Don't you dare playing with me, human! I'll be more than happy to destroy the book along with you! Sora!" yelled Yuki.

The pale brown book started glowing again and the girl knew that this time the attack would be aimed to her. She closed her eyes while a desperate thought filled her head; _I am going to die!_

"**Gikoru!**"

She had braced herself for the hit but it never came. Opening her eyes, she saw the icicles had been stuck several inches away from her. She looked around and knew what had happened; Hori had pushed Yuki aside right after the spell was chanted, causing the icicles to miss their target. Howling with fury, Yuki then punched Hori in the stomach that sent him flying and fell hard in front of the terrified girl.

"Hori!" she yelled, hating herself for not being able to help. Hori coughed up blood as he was trying to get up; a scenery of torture to her. _No…_

"You're really pissing me off! Just die already!" Yuki yelled angrily, the book on its partner's hands glowing brightly.

Tears were forming in her eyes as she saw Hori spread his arms in front of her, ready to counter whatever came to him; to protect her. She closed her eyes and shook her head. _No… don't hurt him anymore…_

Just then she felt some light forcing its way inside her closed eyes. Her eyes fluttered open almost instantly to see the book she was holding glowing violet color, brightly. Unknown to herself, she opened the book and observing it while Sora's voice yelled.

"**Gikoru!**"

The sharp icicles came hurling once again and about to pierce Hori when suddenly a voice yelled.

"The first spell, **Nekoru!**"

The icicles never came to Hori as they were evaporated halfway by a blast of purple flame that shot out from Hori's right palm, causing some thick white mist to linger in the air, temporarily blocking each other from view. Everyone was shocked, even Hori, to see the sudden development of the situation. He quickly turned around and smirked at the sight of his glowing book in the girl's hand. Apparently he hadn't mistaken at all; she was really his book keeper.

While Hori was savoring his triumph, the girl was becoming more terrified. She knew he was different from normal human, but the fact that he could fire some strangely dark flame from his hand still made her shaken. The glow from her book disappeared as Hori walked up to her, raising his fist threateningly. She grew paler as for some wild moment she thought Hori was about to hit her for a mistake she did not know what. She closed her eyes automatically and heard something breaking, yet she did not feel any 'new' pain. When she opened her eyes, she saw the ice binding her leg shattered, freeing her.

"I see your book keeper has finally come to her senses, but it won't change anything." Yuki mocked when the mist cleared and they could see each other again.

Hori smirked, "No, it will change everything." He then turned to his book keeper and said, "Give me a spell when I need it."

Without waiting for her answer, he was already running towards Yuki. "Now that I have my power, I'll be able to beat you easily!" he yelled.

"Not a chance!"

"**Gikoru!**"

Again, sharp icicles were hurling towards Hori, who ducked to avoid them and jumped. He pulled his fist backward and swung it forward as hard as he could to Yuki's chest, breaking its armor and some of its body. He then put his hand forward, his palm facing Yuki, and yelled, "Read the book!"

Seeing that she might have the chance to get out of there alive, the girl read from the book without hesitation, "**Nekoru!**"

A blast of purple flame escaped Hori's palm and hit Yuki's left side, its arm and a great chunk of its chest were melting instantly. Yuki wasn't pleased at all and readied itself to regenerate its melting body, but Hori did not give it any chance for he was blasting another flame to its right side, melting its remaining chest and causing its upper body to fall to the ground.

Yuki's eyes were widening in horror as it watched Hori lunged for the book in Sora's hand. "No! You will not touch it!" it yelled as its body began to regenerate.

"**F-Furizudo!**" Sora's voice trembled a little at the sight of Hori running to him.

White mist shot out of Yuki's mouth towards Hori's feet, but he had expected that to come and jumped just in time before the ground freeze. Yuki and Sora were speechless as Hori landed safely in front of the now terrified Sora. He smirked at him.

"Do you mind if I take that book?"

Whatever Sora was going to say was never left his mouth as Hori had punched him across the face, sending him flying, crashing, and rolling several times before stopped by a tree at the edge of the forest. He fell unconscious instantly. Hori then picked up the book Sora had dropped and formed a victorious grin in his face. Yuki, who was finally fully regenerated its body, screamed and dashed for its book, its face contorted with rage. But before it could reach any nearer, Hori had already ripped the book into two parts and it suddenly burst into flames. He watched with a satisfied expression as Yuki's body turned transparent and disappeared shortly after its book turned into ashes.

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><p><strong>AN**: There, I hope you liked it. It was longer than I thought it would be, so, sorry if it was boring. Anyway, please review and tell me what you think. :)


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry it took so long, but here's chapter two!

Disclaimer: I don't own Konjiki no Gash Bell, Makoto Raiku does.

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><p>Unwritten Stories<p>

Chapter Two

As if seeing people throwing off ice and fire from their mouth and hand hadn't already inflicted heavy blows to her, now Tateishi Meida had to suffer another blow to her remaining sanity as she witnessed a person, or more likely a creature disappeared right before her very nose. All logic seemed to have leaked out of her and her brain had stopped working momentarily as if it was frozen by the cold. She had no control over her body now that she couldn't even bring her gaping mouth shut and just let herself being dragged around by Hori.

When she'd finally come to her senses, she found out that Hori had dragged her into a clearing where a small house stood alone, a tall antenna and a small chimney on its snow-capped roof. At the front of the house, there was a sign that read, "Property of Billy Hudson". A pair of car tires track etched on the snow just outside a smaller building, which Meida sure was a garage, and went along the clearing path that led to the highway. She was so desperate for warmth that she wasn't complaining when Hori kicked the door open as soon as they reach it. But she figured, as she entered the now doorless building, that wouldn't be a problem because no one had come out and scold them for breaking their door.

They were greeted by small and cozy living room with comfortable lounge chairs in one side. Stood against the wall was supposed to be a book shelf but no longer look like one for it was collapsed from colliding with the door Hori had kicked earlier. There was a fireplace on the other side of the room, though no fire was lit. Hori propped her on a chair beside it, in which she began to curl herself in. It didn't help much for the chair had also become wet from her wet clothes. Without saying anything, Hori went to explore the house and came back with a thick blanket in his hand. He threw it to his bookkeeper who caught it and immediately covered her body with it. The cold lessened but she was still trembling. Hori himself sat down on a chair by the window across the room, frowning and said, "You're pathetic."

Normally she would have exploded being called pathetic by a stranger but she was so terrified and cold that she forgot to feel angry. "Who—who are you?" she said between clattering teeth.

Hori grumbled. "I thought I already told you that. Do I have to repeat all of it now?"

Meida didn't answer. She remembered Hori once told her about it. It was nonsense and she was in a quite shocked state to give it another thought. But given the proof of several crazy things that had just happened, at least she was quite sure about one thing. "You're… not an ordinary boy." she whispered.

Hori rolled his eyes.

"Well, of course! I'm a mamono. You should have known that." he said as he pulled a curtain that covered the window off the holders and ripped it in two. He then used it as a bandage to cover his bleeding shoulder.

"Mamono?" she asked, wondering what kind of species that is.

"In other word, demon. I'm a demon from another world."

Meida would have laughed if not for the seriousness in his voice. She blinked as she pondered that statement. Whatever he said, he was just looked like ordinary brat to her. Well, except for those strange linear markings on his face. If what he had said was true, his appearance didn't really support the fact. Weren't demons supposed to be scary-looking with horns, wings, and fangs?

"Uh…kay?" she responded with a slight doubt on her face. "So was the ice guy from before also a demon?"

"Yeah. We are just some of the many mamono children sent here to compete against each other."

Meida gaped.

"Whoa! Hold it! There are many of your lot here? And what is this competition all about?"

"A hundred mamono children to be exact. And about the competition," Hori paused. He then turned to Meida and stared at her observantly, making sure that this time she was really paying him attention before he give another explanation; he didn't feel like to explain everything to her for the third time in the future.

He decided that she was seriously listening.

"In our world," he began. "we have a king to rule and manage everything. And every one thousand years, one hundred mamono children are chosen and sent to the human world to compete for the throne. Unfortunately, we can't use our powers freely here; this world is human's so we need their power to help us to win the competition—their heart power in this case. That's why each one of us was given a book like this." he showed her the indigo book with strange symbols from earlier. "Aside from its function as a guide book, the book also contains our spells. All we need to do is search for our destined human partner who can read it, thus he or she will be able to assist us in battle. They release our power by reading the spell from the book, fueled by their heart energy. The rule of this competition is simple. We eliminate our enemies by burning their books so that they will be forcibly taken back to the mamono world and thus lost their rights to become king."

"Just like that ice guy…" Meida muttered, remembering how the creature from before had suddenly disappeared along with its book.

"Right. The last one standing with the book still intact will be the next king of our world."

Meida's head was spinning. This whole mamono battle was really something. She was scared. She wanted to deny it. She wanted to think that Hori was just messing with her but then thinking why he would do that. Now that she thought about it, why would they even meet and talk about the battle here in the first place? He wouldn't have just told that story to everyone, would he? Then understanding filled her mind and her heart sank. _Don't tell me…_

"Um, sorry but why are you telling me all that?" she asked shakily at her suspicion. The house was so quiet that she could hear her heart pounding hard against her chest.

Hori huffed, now standing on his feet and looked outside through the window. His brows furrowed as if he was concentrating hard. "I guess because you were asking me about that." he said, sarcasm in his voice.

_Oh yeah, that's right_. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, trying to find the right words.

"I mean, why are you involving me? It has nothing to do with me at all."

"Tch, are you an idiot? You're my book keeper. You're my destined human partner." said Hori now looking at her.

Meida seemed to have forgotten how to breathe momentarily. Although she knew that was about to come, it was still hard to believe. And now that Hori had confirmed it himself, vivid pictures of the next crazy battles started to pop inside her head. And she was dead in it.

"No way." she blurted, hastily catching a breath.

"Yes way. There is no doubt about that. You can read my spellbook, and only you can. That's why you will have to help me win this competition." Hori grunted. To think that he was actually asking for the help of human annoyed him. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave his book keeper a cold look. "Isn't that a very ridiculous rule? To have us partnered up with weak humans in this very important competition. I'm personally against it but I can do nothing about it. I have no choice. You will make me king no matter what!"

After calling her pathetic, now he called her weak? She couldn't help growing a small pulsing vein on her forehead. "Look now. Don't you think it would have been better not to insult if you are asking for someone's help?" Meida said between gritted teeth, now glaring at him.

"What?" Hori returned the glare. "I said the truth. You humans are weak."

_He's so annoying!_ She groaned mentally while she turned away from him in reality. _What's with this kid keep mocking me while I hardly know him? He brought me here all of a sudden and told me such ridiculous story about demon battles, and now he expects me to assist him in the battle where I'd almost lost my life!_ _God, what did I do to deserve this?_ She thought miserably. She then remembered how she'd met with him in the first place. He was chased by two people—whose now she was sure was a mamono team. They blasted him next to her with a strange laser. And when the mamono team blasted another laser to him, she didn't know what had gotten into her and intercepted the laser with her back, protecting him. Now that she thought about it, it was her own fault that she got stuck with him. _What was I thinking?_ She cursed herself mentally.

While she was musing with her mind, Hori had walked out of the house and came back a few minutes later. His expression was serious. "Enough rest. I'm sensing a mamono presence. It's faint but I'm sure of it." he said. This caused Meida to look at him, tensing at the mention of the word mamono. "There's a city not far from here and if we are lucky, we will probably find them there. Come on, we should get moving!"

_Lucky? It's disaster!_ Meida thought in disbelief.

"I'm sorry but I don't need anymore fighting! I need help!" she yelled hysterically at him. And then it struck her. Yeah right, all she needed was help. Why didn't she think about that before? She could call one of her servant to take her away from this demon before she could fall even deeper into his troublesome matters. And she was cursing herself once more for failing to notice it sooner as she quickly grabbed the telephone on the table beside her chair and made a phone call.

A few hours later, Meida was already sitting comfortably in a hotel room after taking a hot shower. She was dressed in a new thick winter coat and jeans, sipping pleasantly on a mug of hot chocolate. _God, it feels so good_, she thought, mentally thanking her servant for bringing her someone to fetch her. The servant was very surprised when she told him that she was in Australia. For a moment of silence in the phone, Meida thought he had passed out of shock –as it nearly did to her when she found out the first time. But then she heard him muttered comforting words to her and that he would send her help immediately. She was wondering what to give him as a returning-the-favor gift when her eyes caught sight of Hori.

She would have been happier if he wasn't there. But she couldn't just leave him alone in that forest, and asking him to leave wasn't an option either. Not when he got no home to return to and no one to take care of him. It was bothersome, but she couldn't bear the thought of letting a kid wandering alone in the street. Yeah, even if the kid was a demon from another world. Well actually, she shouldn't have worried about that because Hori would've followed her everywhere even if he wasn't asked to.

The silver-haired was looking out of the window towards the city below, the mug of hot chocolate lay abandoned beside him. _It's close_, he thought. A moment ago, he had sensed a surge of power that only mamonos could make. It was strong. He clenched his fist and it was started shaking with excitement. He couldn't wait the time when they would confront each other. No matter how strong he or she really is, he will not going to lose.

"Hey." Meida's voice disrupting his thought but he didn't turn around. She frowned. "Why don't you go take a shower? You look horrible." she said. And she was right. He was in a mess; his clothes were ripped in some places and he was covered in dirt and blood. He still had his boots on, which splattered the carpet with dirt. The cleaning service wouldn't be so pleased about that, Meida guessed. "And that wound of yours needs a proper treatment or else it would be worsened." She grimaced at his shoulder, which was bandaged so roughly by a ripped curtain.

If Hori had listened to her, he didn't show any sign of it. He stayed there and kept staring out; only long after that he responded with a faint grunt "I'm fine".

'_I'm fine' his ass!_

Meida grumbled as she approached him. How could you be fine with a hole on your shoulder and after losing so much blood? She then grabbed his arm and dragged him, ignoring his angry protests, to the bathroom. She pushed him inside and blocked the door with her body.

"What the hell!" he demanded.

"Clean yourself. Unless you want me to scrub those dirt off you myself." she threatened.

Without waiting for his answer, she closed the door and locked it from outside. Hori banged on the door angrily, and for a scary moment Meida thought he was going to kick the door open like earlier. But it didn't happen, which caused her to release a long sigh of relief.

Eh, it really was just for 'a few moments'.

A loud crashing sound could be heard as a flying bathroom door was smashed against a TV across the room. Meida sweatdropped as she saw a pissed Hori standing with one foot lifted in the air where the door had been a moment ago. Behind him, a large quantity of water was streaming freely from a newly broken pipe, flooding the bathroom floor in no time. He did clean himself up, or rather 'wash' for he was dripping wet from head to boots, still with his clothes on.

"Happy now?" he grunted.

Meida face-palmed. _What a troublesome kid…_

Later that night, Meida had nightmares and awoke in the middle of the night drenched with cold sweat. In her dream, the ice guy had come back to life and froze her into a block of ice. It then took the pleasure of revenge by stomping on her, shattering her arm. She shuddered and quickly checked her arm. It was still there, in one piece and unhurt. She heaved a sigh of relief knowing that it was just a dream but she couldn't sleep the rest of the night.

By morning, her eyelids were so heavy that she decided to walk out for fresh air before heading to the airport where a plane to take her back to Tokyo will be waiting. She didn't want to sleep and risked getting more nightmares, at least not until she left this country. The winter breeze swept her face as she walked in the street. It was half past seven, but the street was already packed with people doing their activities. The shopkeepers started turning the sign 'Open' in their shops. Cars kept zooming in and out in the street, stopping every once in a while at the red sign to let people cross the street safely. _Here's not too different with Tokyo_. _A busy city_, Meida thought.

"You know what? You're going the wrong way."

She sighed as she turned to find Hori walking beside her, his indigo book tucked under his arm and he was in a bad mood. Well, he was always in bad mood. "And you forgot to bring this." He said, tossing the book to her. She caught it only to prevent it from smacking her head.

She closed her eyes and willed herself to remain calm. He had already caused so much trouble for her yesterday. And now she could feel he was going to give her another. She just knew it.

"Why are you following me?" she hissed at him. She was momentarily losing her annoyance only to gape at him in awe. His bruises that he got yesterday were gone and his ripped clothes had somehow mended and were now looking as good as new. She would have said nothing had happened at all except for the occasional pain throbbing on her shoulder. Well, since she was dealing with a demon, anything weird is normal, she decided.

"Of course we're going to confront a mamono. I can feel they're close by." said Hori. "It's a strong one so you need to be careful not to spacing out like before. You have to be serious or else your book will be burned."

On a positive note, her drowsiness has lessened a little as her vein did an exercise on her head. On the negative note, she was now pissed off.

She pulled him beside a book store and gave him her most intimidating look. "Listen, kid," she began, "I've had enough trouble already without you adding another. And I really don't give a damn if this stupid book is burned. So please stop bothering me!"

"But you _will_ give it a damn. You will not let that book got burned. You will fight and read the spell for me. And you will make me king of my world!" Hori retorted stubbornly.

"Oh please! Who do you think you are, ordering me around like that? I don't care about your stupid fight! Go find someone else who is willing to die for you!" she said, her voice rising.

"No one else can assist me other than you! You should be grateful to be able to become my partner!" Hori too was raising his voice. He's not going to lose anything especially with human.

Meida snorted.

"Grateful for signing myself up for guaranteed death? Believe me, I'd rather be frozen in that forest rather than assisting you in your stupid—" she didn't get to finish her sentence as someone was bumping into her from behind. She turned to see a kid about Hori's age with freckles on his nose. He quickly bowed to her, so low that his blue cap nearly fell off his sand-colored head.

"I'm so sorry. I was in a hurry so I wasn't looking where I was going. You're not hurt, are you?" he said apologetically, scanning her for possible damage he might've made with his emerald eyes.

Meida couldn't see how one would get hurt from bumping with that small body. "Eh, no. It's okay. I'm fine." She said, smiling a little.

"Thank goodness." the boy sighed and after apologizing one more time, he left.

_What a nice kid_, she thought as she watched the boy walked away. "There Hori, you should learn from his example." She said.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" he growled.

Meida sighed. She knew there will be no end if this continued. "It's time. We should go to the airport now."

Hori stared at her like she was crazy. "What! But what about the battle?"

"I don't care." Her tone was clear that she will not to be argued anymore.

Meanwhile, the boy from before was smirking as he watched the two walked away from behind a trash can in a space between two shops. "Today's a great success." He said to himself as he pulled out a small bundle from his pocket, which turned out to be money. "It's just as I thought. She is rich. Now what should I buy with it first…"

"You're going to put that lady into serious trouble, you know that?"

The mysterious voice nearly gave him a heart attack. He jumped so high and dropped the money in response. He quickly turned around to see a figure with cloak standing in the shadow before him. He couldn't see the face clearly as it was half hidden by the shadow and the hoodie of the cloak.

"You shouldn't be stealing other's money. That's not the right thing to do." the voice said again. It was calm yet he could feel power in it, like the suggestion given by hypnotist.

"Who are you? Do you know her?" his voice was brave despite that he was just found outstealing someone's money.

"I don't know her, but I do envy her."

He had no idea what this person was talking about. He took a knife from his pocket and held it up. This person had discovered his little secret, so he was certainly not going out of this without a fight.

"Relax. I'm not going to turn you to the police or whatever." the voice said calmly, not even intimidated by the sight of his knife. "Rather, I have a little favor to ask you."

"What do you want?"

The cloaked person reached inside the cloak and gave him a book with weird symbols and hourglass-like pattern on the cover, which was glowing as soon as he touched it. He nearly dropped the book in surprise but the unknown person remained calm.

"Please read my book."

* * *

><p>There, I hope you liked it. Pardon me for any spelling and grammar errors in there. Also, please review 'cause your opinion matters to me.<p> 


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